Re:That DAMN Spider AARRRGGGHH!!!

[Mark Brusadin <mbrusadi@domain.elided>]

>I traced the pink/white from the + side of the fuel pump to a "Black Switch"
>attached to the firewall next to the window washer reservoir.  What is this
>switch??  "Inertia Switch" is written on the side of it and it has a little
>plunger on the top?!?!

That switch is the kill switch to the fuel pump in an accident.  If the
plunger drops, the power dies.  The idea is that in an accident, the sudden
impact changes the movement of the car from forward to nowhere, thus
changing the inertia of the car. The switch is activated by this sudden
inertia, killing the power to your fuel pump so that the pump doesn't
continually pump gas into what could be a potential fire.

I don't know how to check to see if it's working correctly. My 79 has a
round pink tube with a plunger on top as the inertia switch. The only
replacement available is the black box you have. I don't think you can just
pull the switch out and connect the wires together, I was told a long time
ago the switch also acts as a resistor - hooking the wires together to
bypass the switch could fry the fuel pump (anybody who knows what really
happens, please chime in, I was too chicken to try on mine to see if true
or not!)

I DO know what happens when it doesn't work correctly - you'll get
intermittent power to the fuel pump, which is what happened to me. I could
jiggle the plunger and hear the fuel pump cut on and off.

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